my journey in life as the woman in me merges with the mommy in me

How do we handle life’s great opportunities?

You could say I’m a little obsessed with positive/uplifting quotes. Much of what I put on my Instagram page are pictures of my family and of course quotes. And since I love reading positive and uplifting messages I therefore think there are probably other people out there like me that love them too.

Maybe you’re having a rough day, or just need some proper motivation, or just something to make you smile and remind you that despite difficult/trying moments, there is always something to smile about or be grateful for.

Today I found this:

And my first thought was yes! This right here. That is what it is about.

Imagine if we spoke this message to ourselves and our children or whoever else is in our life that we love or want to see succeed, in this manner?

I think about this so much for my own girls, and of course that in turn means I think of it for myself, because they see me day in and day out. At all times they are watching how I handle life’s great opportunities. You know, the ones we as adults often are hell bent on just calling challenging times or sucky moments.

So when I see a quote like this it means SO much more to me when I think of it in terms of what am I teaching my children. What am I practicing and what are they learning? Yeah, I know, …that changes the whole game doesn’t it?

The first thing I thought of after seeing this quote (and my initial yes!) was, wow, my Celeste and Elysse demonstrate this to ME daily. Every day they are faced with opportunities of growth and learning and every day they show determination in mastering that “impossible situation”.

I mentioned in a previous post that my daughter is on a competitive team for dance. Their first competition is coming up a week from this Saturday. It’s her first experience with this and let me tell you, there have been many impossible looking situations. In January we had a moment where her teacher called to her attention during a private lesson some things that she was behind on and let me tell you, as a parent it is NOT easy to hear this and see your daughter a bit crushed. It’s hard! My first instinct is to want to guard her from this but I stop myself because I know that one of the best things I can do for her is to help her learn to be resilient, to take the remarks she hears and change them to positive things she can work on to improve. I remember that night so vividly. Before bed time I asked her one last time how she felt about the input she had received. She whispered to me that she didn’t want to be on the team anymore, that she loved the other dance classes but could she not do it. Screech to a halt, total learning moment here.

I held her close and explained to her that she had other team mates counting on her. That everyone had her spot already in the routine they were learning and that when we commit to something we see it through, we don’t just give up. And I explained that at the end of the season, once she knows clearly what the entire experience is like, we can sit down and decide if being on competitive team is something she wants to pursue or not.

And here’s the thing I’ve noticed, whenever she has come across these series of great opportunities, what we say to her, how we take the time to listen to her, and how we encourage and support her has mattered immensely. Because every single time she has come back stronger and putting in the time and practice to become better, and not because we made her but because she made the decision on her own that that action is what will help her succeed and get better.

Just yesterday after a rehearsal they had I told her how proud of her I am, how far she has come. Because she has. I see it in her strength, her focus and her love of what she’s doing. And when I remind her how it was just 6 months ago and where she is at now she smiles and says, ” Because I believe in myself mama and I know I can do it.” Wow!

And so when I read quotes like this I think to myself, we just need to believe we can, and tell ourselves we can. I know life throws some really, really tough things at each one of us and we have all overcome some incredible challenges that seemed impossible at the time, but if instead of seeing it as a challenge we saw it as a great opportunity…just imagine what we could do. And trust me, I know. I truly do. I can often allow myself to just wallow in situation that just feels like despair, but every time I’ve done that, the situation has only gotten worse. Life is not all bubbles and flowers, but it can certainly be filled with positive thoughts and the switch in mindset. The belief that yes you can. That this moment you are going through is simply disguised as an impossible situation but it is not permanent and it can turn into something great.